Butterbean Patties with Potato Wedges

I believe I forgot to mention in my last post the fact that I’m currently on a veggie week. I’m doing this in an attempt to save even more money on food and be a little more healthy. However, by veggie week I mean “veggie where possible week”. I could hardly turn down the offer of an “ultimate burger” yesterday, could I? It would have been rude. I mean, it only contained beef, chicken and pork. No lamb in sight! Except for the bit of lamb I tried from someone else’s burger.

Apart from that excusable lapse, my veggie week has been a great success. When I was younger I thought veggie food would in some way, always, and largely inexplicably, pertain to slop. However, if you look for the right recipes and are content to try lots of new foods – new to me at least – then it’s particularly enjoyable. So, without further ado, if that’s what you call it, I introduce to you my slightly different recipe for falafel, cunningly renamed “patty”. Falafel is just what is contained in the recipe, right? It doesn’t pertain to the shape of the food prepared? Anyway, as usual these are achingly simple to make and wallet-shockingly cheap. If, indeed, a wallet can be induced into a state of shock. Which, on reflection, I doubt it can.

This recipe will happily serve two, and take roughly half an hour to make.

Butterbean Patties{recipe}

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

400g tin of butterbeans, drained

half a red onion, finely diced

2 tbsp plain flour, to bind

1tsp ground cumin seeds

1/2 chili flakes

1 clove of garlic, mashed

slug of olive oil

seasoning

Method:

In a large bowl mash the butterbeans until they form a paste. Then stir in the rest of the ingredients until the ingredients are distributed evenly.

Form the mixture into patties roughly 2 – 2.5 inches in diameter and 1.5cm in thickness. This mixture should make 6 patties, as a rough guide.

Coat each patty in a thin layer of plain flour and fry in a shallow layer of vegetable oil until golden brown on each side. This should take a few minutes on each side. Make sure the oil is hot enough by testing a little of the mixture out first.

Potato Wedges:

Ingredients:

350g potatoes, cut into wedges. Eight wedges per potato.

plenty of seasoning

plenty of olive oil

Method:

Simply pre-heat the oven to around 200C. Coat each wedge in plenty of seasoning and plenty of oil and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden-brown. No pre-boiling required.

Never buy chips again. You won’t need to.

We served these two dishes with a simple tomato salsa, a yoghurt and garlic dip, a side salad, and a pita bread each. The salsa consisted of a single tomato and half a red onion, both diced and brought together with olive oil. Don’t forget to season. If you want a little more kick you may add lemon juice. The garlic and yoghurt dip contained a few tablespoons of natural yoghurt and a single clove of garlic finely chopped. Again, don’t forget to season.

Remember, it is always cheaper to buy in-season vegetables. Lettuce, for example, is extremely cheap at the moment.

Cost: Everything, and I mean everything, you can find in this recipe, for both people, cost £1.80. I was shocked too, but I have been reliably informed by my human calculator that it is, indeed the case. Enjoy, you lucky devils.